Guides

Introduction

When dealing with large datasets, sitemap sources can be chunked into multiple files to:

  • Stay within search engine limits (50MB file size, 50,000 URLs)
  • Improve generation performance
  • Better manage memory usage

Simple Configuration

Enable chunking on any named sitemap with sources:

nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  sitemap: {
    sitemaps: {
      posts: {
        sources: ['/api/posts'],
        chunks: true, // Uses default size of 1000
      }
    }
  }
})

This generates:

/sitemap_index.xml    # Master index
/posts-0.xml          # First chunk (1-1000)
/posts-1.xml          # Second chunk (1001-2000)
...

Chunk Size Options

Configure chunk sizes using different approaches:

nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  sitemap: {
    // Global default
    defaultSitemapsChunkSize: 5000,
    
    sitemaps: {
      // Using boolean (applies default)
      posts: {
        sources: ['/api/posts'],
        chunks: true,
      },
      
      // Using number as size
      products: {
        sources: ['/api/products'],
        chunks: 10000,
      },
      
      // Using explicit chunkSize (highest priority)
      articles: {
        sources: ['/api/articles'],
        chunks: true,
        chunkSize: 2000,
      }
    }
  }
})

Practical Examples

E-commerce Site

nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  sitemap: {
    defaultSitemapsChunkSize: 10000,
    sitemaps: {
      products: {
        sources: ['/api/products/all'],
        chunks: 2000,
      },
      categories: {
        sources: ['/api/categories'],
        chunks: true, // Uses default 10k
      }
    }
  }
})

Large Content Site

nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  sitemap: {
    sitemaps: {
      'blog-posts': {
        sources: ['/api/blog/posts'],
        chunks: 5000,
      },
      authors: {
        sources: ['/api/authors'],
        chunks: false, // Explicitly disable
      }
    }
  }
})

Source Implementation

Basic endpoint for sitemap sources:

server/api/products/all.ts
export default defineEventHandler(async () => {
  const products = await db.products.findAll({
    select: ['id', 'slug', 'updatedAt']
  })
  
  return products.map(product => ({
    loc: `/products/${product.slug}`,
    lastmod: product.updatedAt
  }))
})

For large datasets, use caching and streaming:

server/api/products/all.ts
export default defineCachedEventHandler(async () => {
  const products = []
  const cursor = db.products.cursor({
    select: ['slug', 'updatedAt']
  })
  
  for await (const product of cursor) {
    products.push({
      loc: `/products/${product.slug}`,
      lastmod: product.updatedAt
    })
  }
  
  return products
}, {
  maxAge: 60 * 60, // 1 hour cache
  name: 'sitemap-products'
})

Debugging

Check chunk configuration and performance:

nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  sitemap: {
    debug: true,
    sitemaps: {
      products: {
        sources: ['/api/products'],
        chunks: 5000
      }
    }
  }
})

Visit /__sitemap__/debug.json to see chunk details and generation metrics.

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Best Practices

The best practices for generating a sitemap.xml file.

Submitting Your Sitemap

How to submit your sitemap to Google Search Console to start getting indexed.